New Managers: 37 Facts You Must Know About Leadership and Workplace Culture

Most new managers are in trouble.

The thrill of a new job or promotion lasts for a little while. But eventually, reality starts to sink in. 

Previously, new managers only had to worry about themselves. Now they live and die by the performance of their team. And that team consists of people who may not even want to see them succeed.

New managers need help, and they need it fast.  

Let’s look at the cold, hard truth. Brace yourself, this isn’t going to be pretty…

85% of new managers do not get any training prior to becoming a manager.

59% do not feel like they are supported in their new role.

63% still do not feel effective after six months on the job. 

50% still do not feel effective after 12 months on the job.

Manager training might seem like a no-brainer, but the fact is that companies spend more resources teaching managers how to use the computer than they do training them to lead people. And the results are predictable.

50% of managers fail during the first year.

I told you this was going to be scary. 

The truth is, half of all new managers fail because they are unprepared and untrained.  Good intentions aren't enough. They simply aren’t ready for the highs and lows that come with managing other adults, and they veer to extremes on the empathy/discipline matrix.

78% of employees do not think that the leadership of their organization has a clear direction.

79% of employees do not feel that their performance is managed in a way that motivates them to do outstanding work.

85% of employees do not feel that the leadership of their organization makes them enthusiastic about the future.

87% of employees do not think that the leadership of their organization communicates effectively with the rest of the organization.

The facts do not lie. Most companies get it wrong. Most managers get it wrong. 

The good news? If you can get it right, you and your organization have a clear competitive advantage.

72% of people think that their performance would be better if their managers would give them corrective feedback.

69% of managers say they are uncomfortable communicating with their employees.

Most employees want honest communication. They are mature adults who can handle truth delivered with empathy and a genuine desire for improvement. 

Unfortunately, most managers are wildly uncomfortable with this kind of communication, so they either stay silent or come down like a sledgehammer to appear “strong”.

Leaders who are good listeners and are able to respond with empathy perform more than 40 percent higher in all performance and leadership metrics.

Do these two things if you want to get a head start on being a great manager: 

• Practice active listening. 
• Show genuine empathy (note: this does not mean being a pushover).

88% of employees don’t think that their organization does a good job of onboarding new employees.

If an organization can’t get the onboarding process right, things are unlikely to improve from there.

Manager performance accounts for at least 70% of employee engagement scores.

At the risk of over-simplifying, management IS the employee experience. Companies with great management have engaged employees, and companies with lousy management have disengaged employees. 

67% of US employees are not engaged at work.

70% of employees do not feel that they have the materials and equipment they need to do their work right.

60% of employees say the ability to do what they do best in a role is “very important” to them.

Only 40% of employees strongly agree that they have the opportunity to do what they do best when they are at work.

Only 30% of employees strongly agree that they have received recognition or praise for doing good work in the last seven days.

Most employees are disengaged, and it’s largely because their managers are missing in action. Or maybe, it’s just that action is missing.

Actively disengaged employees cost the U.S. $483 billion to $605 billion each year in lost productivity.

Employee disengagement is an expensive luxury that most companies can’t afford. Yet they often don’t do anything other than talk about it, furrow their brows, and hope things get better. Most employees are disengaged, and it’s largely because their managers are missing in action. Or maybe, it’s just that action is missing.

Companies with highly engaged employees realize:

• 41% reduction in absenteeism.
• 17% increase in productivity.
• 28% reduction in shrinkage (the dollar amount of unaccounted-for lost merchandise).
• 40% reduction in quality defects.
• 70% decrease in employee safety incidents.
• 10% increase in customer metrics.
• 20% increase in sales.
• 21% greater profitability.

Let’s do the math: Outstanding management leads to employee engagement. Employee engagement leads to profitability.

End Result: One of the smartest financial moves a company can make is to invest in making its managers great.

At the individual level, an average manager that works to upgrade their leadership skills makes themselves exponentially more valuable to their company and to the job market.

Actively disengaged employees are almost twice as likely as engaged employees to seek new jobs.

47% of the workforce say now is a good time to find a quality job.

51% of employees are searching for new jobs or waiting for openings.

Managers who cannot engage their employees are going to lose them. If your company has a retention problem, it has an employee engagement problem (and vice versa).

In low-turnover organizations (40% or less annualized turnover) highly engaged business units achieve 59% lower turnover.

In high-turnover organizations (more than 40% annualized turnover), highly engaged business units achieve 24% lower turnover.

Even in high-turnover organizations, you can have pockets of function (great managers in individual departments or units) amidst dysfunction. These managers will maintain a level of stability that the rest of the organization does not enjoy.

41% of employees say a significant increase in income is “very important” to them when considering a new job.

51% of employees say they would switch to a job that allows them flextime, and 37% would switch to a job that allows them to work off-site at least part of the time.

53% of employees say a job that allows them to have greater work-life balance and better personal well-being is “discipline” to them.

Money is important, but it’s not everything. A positive culture that creates happy employees and supports work-life balance is even more significant to many people.

At some point in their career, 50% of US adults have left their job to get away from their manager in order to improve their overall life.

Bad managers are costing companies millions of dollars, and they are also negatively affecting the lives of the millions of employees unfortunate enough to report to them.

So, what do we learn from all this data?

Most new managers are not set up to succeed. And when they subsequently fail, the effects are devastating on the company and the employees.

Where do we go from here?

Companies who commit to building strong managers and an engaging culture are simply more successful.

It will never happen by accident, or without work. It takes buy-in from the top, which filters to senior management, then down to the managers who report to them, and so on.

Leadership is a collection of skills, not a talent or a gift. Every new manager that is committed to the process can become a great manager. And great companies are made of great managers.

This is how culture is born.

Sources:

https://www.inc.com/will-yakowicz/how-to-make-sure-first-time-manager-doesnt-fail.html

https://www.kenblanchard.com/KBCPublic/media/PDF/First-time-Manager-Infographic_Sink-or-Swim-MK0821.pdf

https://www.ddiworld.com/global-offices/united-states/press-room/what-is-the-1-leadership-skill-for-overall-success

https://www2.deloitte.com/insights/us/en/focus/human-capital-trends/2014/hc-trends-2014-overwhelmed-employee.html

https://www.officevibe.com/blog/shocking-statistics-manager-needs-know

https://interactauthentically.com/new-interact-report-many-leaders-shrink-from-straight-talk-with-employees/

https://www.gallup.com/workplace/229424/employee-engagement.aspx?g_source=link_wwwv9&g_campaign=item_243578&g_medium=copy

https://www.gallup.com/workplace/243578/employee-experience-engagement-difference.aspx